[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20453-20455]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1630
                           THE PEOPLE'S WORK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2009, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas) 
is recognized for 22 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I 
thank my good friend from Oregon for giving such a detailed 
presentation of the enormity of the work that we have generated in 
collaboration with this administration and what ``change'' actually 
means.
  Sometimes the television news bites and other activities that, by the 
very nature of our Nation, which is so diverse, may draw upon our 
thinking, we don't get to the bottom line of the kinds of opportunities 
that we've seen over the past 8 months, 7 months, of hard work from the 
time that President Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the 
United States and Congress was sworn in for the 111th Congress. Our 
work is not yet finished. And we want to continue that work in dialogue 
with our constituents.
  So I wanted to speak today some with a little lightheartedness and 
some with enormous sincerity and seriousness.
  I want to acknowledge the passing of the mother of the mayor of Acres 
Home, Willie Baker in my congressional district. I offer them my 
deepest sympathy. I rose to the floor yesterday to acknowledge the 
passing of Vermel Cook. A pioneering surgical nurse who worked with Dr. 
Michael E. Debakey and Dr. Michael Cooley. These are issues that 
members address as Federal Representatives in the people's House.
  So to those families, the Cook and Baker families, I offer my deepest 
sympathy.
  It seems then relevant to suggest that in addition to the many issues 
that we confront, I had the privilege of joining the Senate in having 
passed today by unanimous consent H.J. Res. 12, which, for many of my 
colleagues, 61 of them who cosponsored, many of them recognized the 
cultural richness of America, particularly in music which I happen to 
be a fan of and I believe it's so much a part of the American character 
whether it's country western or whether it's jazz, whether it's pop or 
whether it is gospel.
  So H.J. Res. 12 acknowledged today along with the United States 
Senate that we would designate September 2009 as Gospel Music Heritage 
Month and it would honor the gospel music for its valuable and 
longstanding contributions to the culture of the United States. I hope 
that those who are members of various faiths throughout this Nation 
will take the time during their religious services to celebrate gospel 
musicians, gospel singers, gospel producers, gospel writers, and their 
own church choir or their place of faith's church choir, wherever they 
are practicing their faith. If there is a choir and it draws the kind 
of celebratory respect for their faith, I hope they will celebrate it.
  So I am very pleased to have done this for a second time and to 
recognize the importance of the many artists and the many different 
influences, including country western music on gospel music. To 
recognize Thomas Dorsey, and Mahalia Jackson, the Stamps Quartet, the 
Statesmen, The Soul Stirrers, James Cleveland, Ray Hearn, Rex Humbard, 
the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Kirk Franklin, the late Brenda Waters and 
Carl Preacher and Shirley Joiner, The Winans, and Kathy Taylor, and so 
many others.
  And then those who went on from gospel like Al Green and Elvis 
Presley and Aretha Franklin, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton that had a 
gospel influence.
  So in this place that is the people's House, we likewise attempt to 
be sensitive to items of joy, and I'm very proud that we will have an 
event in September, on September 12, at the Kennedy Center honoring 
gospel music heritage, and I hope my friends will do so.
  But as we do that, we recognize that there are painful experiences so 
many of our constituents are having. So I rise today to thank my 
colleagues for joining me in sponsoring H.R. 3450. That is the 
Automobile Dealers Fair Competition Act of 2009.
  We expect that because of the bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler that we 
are in direct line of losing some 200,000 jobs--I believe some 40,000, 
some 10,000 in the State of Texas--from the closing of automobile 
dealerships. Not only that, we realize that automobile dealerships, 
many of them, were the anchors of our community, the supporters of 
little leagues. Some of them, of course, gave us the best deals of our 
life. Maybe some of them didn't give you the best deal or the deal you 
wanted, but they are your neighbors.
  Dealerships in the 18th Congressional District hire people. They're 
like family. They provide cars for our law enforcement, our city 
government. They make a difference. And by the closing, we know that 
they're closing small businesses. According to estimates, all 
termination actions combined could lead, as I said, to the loss of 
200,000 direct jobs and many, many productive small businesses will be 
destroyed.
  We also know that this termination has been in contrast to the 
contractual relationship called a franchise that the different 
dealerships had with GM and Chrysler.
  So what does H.R. 3450 do? The bill deals with automobile dealers by 
giving them, if you will, the ability to have antitrust protection. 
They can

[[Page 20454]]

now have the right to protect themselves by asking the question, Is the 
closing of automobile dealerships anti-competitive?
  So in this bill, the bill will provide enforcement teeth to this 
right by giving dealers in an expedited court process to enforce the 
restraint of trade rights.
  The bill is, in essence, giving them the right to protect themselves 
by going to court. This would deem decisions by auto manufacturers, 
specifically the Automobile Dealers Fair Competition Act of 2009, would 
deem decisions by auto manufacturers not to grant franchise extensions 
to old GM and Chrysler dealers provided they can demonstrate that they 
are still operating as a viable operation, that they can provide or 
they can show that that is an illegal restraint of trade.
  In addition, the bill will provide enforcement teeth to this ride by 
giving dealers an expedited court process to enforce the restraint of 
trade rights. If new GM or Chrysler doesn't grant a replacement 
franchise to a growing concern within 90 days, the dealer can petition 
to Federal court, district court and ask the court to refer the case to 
a special master who will be required to hear the case and make a 
ruling within 90 days.
  We don't want these dealerships to be closed, particularly those that 
are viable and are working in our community, as many have been, who 
have provided an economic engine to the community. It is our belief 
that there is empirical evidence and quantitative analysis that can be 
done to determine the impact of GM's mass dealer terminations to GM's 
market share.
  If you close dealerships and you leave open Honda and Toyota and 
Lexus and other foreign-made car dealerships, are you impacting the 
competitive nature of our manufacturers and car dealers by giving them 
a noncompetitive edge because you have shut down competitive 
dealerships trying to sell American cars and you're leaving the other 
guys--which we welcome here in the United States; we're open to 
opportunity--but you let the foreign-made cars have the higher number 
of dealerships and therefore you deny jobs, you deny the manufacturers 
a forum for selling their cars. It's just not right.
  So I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3450 to provide 
for the Automobile Dealers Fair Competition Act of 2009. It is H.R. 
3450. We're delighted to already have a number of sponsors. It is 
bipartisan. We believe it can be another legislative initiative, and I 
am on many, to protect and provide for automobile dealers and say to 
the car manufacturers, our good friends in GM and Chrysler, we care 
about the suppliers, the car dealerships, and all of the workers that 
may now look to unemployment because those dealerships are closing. 
Those are good, good-paying jobs, and we want them back.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I'm hoping that my colleagues, as they return from 
the August break working in their districts, will look at H.R. 3450 so 
we can likewise move that forward as quickly as possible.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I would like to emphasize the importance of good 
health care: health care for all America, health care with a public 
option. And for some reason, we think that this is something strange, 
but every single policy that has asked the question, Would you favor or 
oppose creating a public health insurance option to compete with 
private health insurance, not closing down private health insurance, 
you can see the increasing strong numbers: 65 percent, 83 percent, 76 
percent and 72 percent.
  One of the highest, I believe, indicated that this would not close 
anyone's private health insurance. In fact, it said: public plan option 
creating a new public health insurance plan that anyone can purchase. 
Some of the other polls say: ensuring that you can continue in your own 
choice.
  And so I'm very proud that I support the public health insurance 
option that allows people to have insurance to stay where they are, but 
it allows all the small businesses to be able to provide themselves 
with insurance so they can do their business right.
  What about leaving a job, getting fired and wanting to be a sole 
proprietor? You won't have to worry about being covered with good 
quality health insurance. Preexisting disease, you won't have to be 
worried about being covered by good health insurance. The idea that 
you're not old enough for Medicare, you won't have to worry about good 
public insurance.
  Let me give you an example--and this is happening in districts around 
America. In the 18th Congressional District, for example, up to 14,600 
small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their 
employees; 5,300 seniors would avoid the doughnut hole in Medicare part 
D, 480 families would escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable 
health care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $49 
million in uncompensated care each year. Ask your hospitals. They do 
not get reimbursed when they are the Good Samaritans and take people 
into their emergency rooms or take people who are sick. Once they're in 
the emergency room, they admit them.
  Uncompensated care in my district alone will get $49 million and 
184,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality health 
care.
  How can we beat this? Help the small business, individuals who have 
ideas, want to get out and show their entrepreneurship, want to be a 
sole proprietor. Maybe they have two employees or 10 employees. You 
will get a public option. Don't let those scare tactics of you lose 
your insurance or it will accelerate beyond belief, because we have 
cost control in this bill.
  In addition, don't let anyone misdirect their anguish at physician-
owned hospitals. They are valuable. Do you realize that doctors come 
together and save hospitals from closing? They do that in Texas with 
Saint Joseph's Hospital. They want to do that in my district with ATH 
Heights Hospital. Some of my colleagues have told me about rural 
hospitals that are closing but doctors who care about the Hippocratic 
oath believe that they're there to be caregivers, and they run and they 
provide the saving grace by putting money into investing in those 
hospitals and saving them and keeping them from closing.

                              {time}  1645

  They, too, should be allowed to take in patients under this health 
care reform. And I'm fighting to make sure that that happens because 
they're not double-dipping. We want the quality to be high. We want to 
regulate it. But anyone that knows a doctor that has interest in a 
hospital by way of ownership, small amount kept regulated, you know 
that that hospital, if it's a general acute hospital, can give good 
care, if it's a specialty hospital, can give good care. And so I am 
looking forward to the opportunity to again begin this debate because I 
believe it is important.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to acknowledge the critics that say that the 
stimulus package has not worked. Well, I will tell you that Houston 
Metro in Houston, Texas, as a new start transportation system, is going 
to be eligible for stimulus dollars as we move forward. I only use the 
18th Congressional District because it is right at my fingertips.
  But there are jobs being created. Just alone in my district, housing 
and urban development, we've had $13.6 million in stimulus dollars; 
education, $42.5 million in stimulus dollars. And we want to continue 
to raise a question for our Governor to take out the $3.2 billion that 
is in the Rainy Day Fund in the State of Texas and utilize those 
stimulus dollars to put teachers back to work.
  We were able to ensure that every teacher in Texas will get an $800 
salary increase the day they start work when the new school year 
starts. Those are stimulus dollars that came through the working of the 
Democratic Congressional delegation of the State of Texas, $800 
increase in their salary. $22 million in Social Security, and Small 
Business Administration, $8.5 million. That means in loans to our small 
businesses that are receiving monies from this important generating of 
jobs.
  And so we have been able to fix our courthouse with $807,000. We have 
been

[[Page 20455]]

able to fix our Federal building with $109 billion. We have been able 
to work, if you will, with the Catholic Charities emergency food and 
shelter, $24,000. We have been able to reach the Community of the 
Streets Outreach with $25,000. We have been working with new Kid Care 
emergency food and shelter. They have received dollars. Northwest 
Assistance Ministries has received dollars.
  This is one district, but multiply it for the needs across your 
community. We have been able to keep nonprofit workers to help those 
people who have been unemployed. I think that is a far cry. Cleme Manor 
Apartments, new construction, substantial rehabilitation. Garden City 
Apartments, new construction, substantial rehabilitation.
  Mr. Speaker, we are putting people to work. They are working on the 
construction and rehab of those apartments where individuals live. They 
are giving individuals a cleaner, safer, better quality of life by 
improving their apartments.
  What I would ask my colleagues to do and those who may be listening, 
go to your local city halls. It's public knowledge. Ask them to print 
out for you a list of the stimulus dollars that have already come. More 
are going to come. Those will be grant dollars. It means that any of 
the nonprofits in your States or cities or counties can apply for 
dollars that will put people to work.
  Right now, we have the ability to utilize some $700 million in what 
we call ``green'' jobs. Of course, you can't see it overnight. You 
couldn't see it in March. You couldn't see it possibly in February. 
Maybe you didn't see it in April or May because, yes, processing is 
important, documenting your dollars, where are your tax dollars going, 
making sure we have the right report is correct.
  In Houston, I am very proud to have worked on the stimulus dollar 
legislation providing language to ensure that minority- and women-owned 
and small businesses would be recipients of those dollars in the 
appropriate manner so that we don't leave out small businesses who 
would have the ability to legitimately be receiving stimulus dollars 
through a government process and work that they would be doing.
  And construction dollars for all of the construction workers out 
there. Rehabilitation is a right way to work. I'm glad that the Houston 
Heights Tower received some $95,000--those are where a lot of my senior 
citizens live--for new construction and rehabilitation. I remember 
going to the Heights Tower during Hurricane Ike.
  And so it is important to refute some of the negative commentary that 
the stimulus dollars don't work. They do. Settegast Heights, again, 
$877,000 have gone to my city of Houston in the 18th Congressional 
District alone; new construction, substantial rehabilitation. People 
will have a better quality of life.
  Wesley Square Apartments, $508,000, new construction, substantial 
rehabilitation. Some of the homeless persons who have come upon hard 
times, many of them homeless veterans, will be able to have a better 
quality of life because stimulus dollars were utilized.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I believe that we have come to the end of a portion 
of the 111th Congress, and I am very proud that we passed an SCHIP bill 
that enrolled more children in health care, that we increased the 
minimum wage, that we provided for parity for women in working, that 
their income or their salary is competitive with men, that, as well, we 
have begun to stand down in Iraq. And our Defense Appropriation bill 
speaks to helping move the defense of Iraq to the Iraqi National 
Forces.
  I offer my deepest sadness and reflection on those lives that have 
been lost, our soldiers on the front line, those that are now being 
lost in Afghanistan, and we will work hard to stand down there to 
ensure that the country of Afghanistan can stand up. But we've been 
working hard to ensure that that happens.
  I've been working hard to help the people of Pakistan. We passed a 
Pakistan relief bill, in essence, out of Foreign Affairs so that they 
can stand up, so they can help with social programs, they can help 
economically, that we can help those who are in the camps because of 
the violence that was perpetrated, that we can show the respect for the 
soldiers in Afghanistan, their own soldiers in Afghanistan, Afghanis 
and the Pakistanis, who have lost soldiers themselves fighting 
terrorism.
  We passed H.R. 2200, the bill I authored, helping to secure 
transportation--airports, trains, busses--to emphasize more training 
for flight attendants, to provide more resources for the Transportation 
Security Administration, to ensure that America is safe.
  And so this House has been busy. And as we go home to our districts, 
we will not run away from the idea of good health plans. Because, my 
friends, I don't know what my friends on the other side of the aisle 
have, a bunch of question marks about the health plan that my friends 
on the other side of the aisle have offered.
  I want them to join us. I can articulate what we have done. I realize 
that we've made great strides. I know that the people want, if you 
will, good health care.
  And so as I close, I want to thank the Speaker. And I just want to 
leave you with this forceful message: We're going to get the job done. 
We're going to get health care for all Americans, and the stimulus is 
going to work for you. And celebrate Gospel Music Heritage Month in 
September as we help our automobile dealers return to their jobs and to 
retain their jobs. You know we've been working.

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